I love capturing that moment.
That moment when fleeting light attaches itself to an object in a magical way.
That moment when surprise turns to tears or smiles turn to laughter.
That moment when you feel you have the world in the palm of your hand.
That moment when you realize you don’t.
That moment when you delight in your youthful
spirit no matter what age you are.

It might be a moment I’ve intently planned and
choreographed or one that I stumble upon as it
unfolds in front of me. It can be when I am surrounded
by a world of people or when I am alone with my
thoughts and wandering camera in hand. I love seeing
those moments through my lens and hearing the shutter click.

In that moment I know I have captured something wonderful.

LET’S GET SOCIAL!

Recently, I collaborated with Captured Simplicity and the talented Amy Vecchio during one of her underwater photo sessions. I shot video during the session to create a short film for the client. It was definitely challenging work for all of us. I have to give our model a lot of praise; it is no small feat to reflect serenity and calmness underwater while managing a heavy and fluid dress, holding your breath, juggling weights to stay submerged, and following directions to remain in the proper light. While reviewing the footage I was amazed at the composure she was able maintain! Although I had to make some difficult choices during editing, I love how the final video turned out. Enjoy!

Had a lot of fun with the ladies at Jillian O’Neill Interiors again! We were busy capturing some images of the Emma bench for an upcoming event invitation. Laura Rathe Fine Art in Houston will be hosting the Jillian O’Neill Collection and showing off some of the pieces at a private party. Laura was completely accommodating to let us move the art around to try different angles. She has some really interesting and beautiful art in her gallery–I’m sure it will be a fantastic event!

Bank of Texas recently hosted a fun marketing event and part of the enticements included a head shot refreshment. It was a great opportunity for me to meet new people and help them update their business images. I enjoyed seeing people from so many different industries and I included a few of the images at the bottom.

It’s funny that I heard the same thing with almost everyone who came in, “I hate having my picture taken!”, “It’s been so many years since I had my head shot done”, or “I am not photogenic at all!”. Believe me, probably 90% of my clients feel the same way (me included). It may be that you are shy so have a hard time showing off your personality in front of a camera. It could be that you struggle liking something about your body (your hair, your teeth, your chin, etc). This is where I come in as a professional photographer. I try right from the start to put you at ease. Some people come right out and tell me immediately what they do or do not like about their pictures and with others I can glean the information from talking with you a bit. In either case, it helps me offer suggestions about poses and little tricks I’ve learned to capture honest, relaxed images.

For studio sessions, I shoot with my camera connected to my laptop and we can see the images as they are captured. It’s all digital, so we can shoot away until we get the image. This really helps ensure that you are going to LOVE your head shot because you get to select it before you leave.

Here are a couple of things we do at my studio head shot sessions:

Shoot, break to review, shoot, break to review…

Sometimes people need this first bit of shooting time to get comfortable. It’s not an everyday event so you may need to ease into it to relax with me, the camera, and the lights.

The break gives your face and mind a rest. It’s hard work being a model!

While we review, I like to hear what you like about the images (your hair, expressions, poses). I point out little differences between the photos and we can tag any favorites as we review them. We can also pull up your favorite images side by side to compare them.

If we haven’t found your image yet the review(s) help us to know what we should change or focus on when we start shooting again.

Capture images from all perspectives–left, right, head on.

This can make a huge difference for people. Depending on hair parts, facial structure and even clothing, people usually have a definite preference when they review their images.

I’ll have you do this organically as we are shooting so that we can capture natural shots instead of still posed shots that look more forced.

Capture images at eye level and also slightly above.

Shooting slightly above can help improve posture and elongate necks. I find this is really helpful for men especially if they are wearing suits with ties or buttoned collared shirts.

I’ll have you shift your weight from left to right foot or front foot to back foot while we are shooting.

This also helps with posture and gives us opportunities to change the way your arms or hands are posed.

We may try a couple of runs where we start with no smile and keep shooting as you make your smile bigger (or vice versa). People tend to end up laughing somewhere in there and we find really natural looks.

For ladies, especially those with longer hair, we capture images with your hair different ways (all in front, one side in front, all in back). It does make a difference and ladies almost always have a preference in the end. How will you know if you don’t shoot it though?

Once we have found your image or images, we’ll quickly discuss the final crop dimensions you need and I’ll ask you to let me know about anything in particular that needs to be retouched. I perform retouching on all my final images for clients. Every image benefits from some adjustments. My goal is not to provide a glamour shot where your skin texture has been smoothed to the point of plastic, your teeth are unnaturally white, or you’ve been slimmed down by 30 pounds. The image should look like your best self, convey your personality, and be appropriate for your industry or usage. All that being said, sometimes, life does get in the way of your session and you may show up with acne, an injury, bug bites, unruly hair, or your make-up/grooming just isn’t working for you that day. You could also have a permanent feature like a scar or a mole that you would love to hide. All of these things can be corrected in Photoshop and are included with my service.

Are you in need of a fresh head shot? I’d love to help! Sessions can be captured in my home studio or as I did for Bank of Texas, I can bring the studio to you. Studio sessions at your workplace make it convenient for your whole group or company to capture new head shots all at one time.

Raquel and I headed out to Tomball, TX on a quiet Saturday night recently. We were still counting ourselves lucky that we still had that gloriously comfortable spring weather we were blessed with this year, even though we were right on the cusp of summer. The old town area was deserted allowing us to leisurely stroll about chasing the pretty light and making some clothing changes along the way. Raquel was a natural in front of the camera and after she settled in, she made quick work of any area we walked into; giving me perfect looks and fabulous smiles. Her inner beauty truly matches her outer beauty and you can easily see from the images below that it effortlessly radiates out.

#happilyeveroster

After the big day is over and the sorting of images begins, I like to break the day down into 4 main parts. It helps my brain organize moments. I also think it helps those viewing the final galleries to more easily digest the images. Moments are separated into:

Anticipation ~ Ceremony ~ Portraits ~ Celebration

Creating these smaller, specific galleries makes sharing them digitally with the Bride and Groom, their family and friends much easier as well. Everyone can relive the day in snippets and know where to look for certain images. This organization also helps when it is time to create albums or make collages. Here are few I created from Shelby and Dave’s gorgeous wedding in the 1,000 Islands, NY.

As the sun set over the St. Lawrence river and was replaced by a bright moon, joyful music spread across the water as the band played on to help the Bride & Groom, their family and friends celebrate the gorgeous day and all its special moments.